Huawei Mediapad Review: The Cheap but powerful Android tablet

As we all know, the year of the Water Dragon is finally here! It is only natural for people to adorn themselves with something that has to do with this ferociously fanged mythical creature. According to Chinese geomancers, more commonly known as Feng Shui masters, possessing a feng shui dragon is considered auspicious and powerful this year.
While I personally don’t subscribe to superstitious thinking, I thought why not? It won’t hurt trying anyway. Hence, I am giving myself and you dear readers a symbolic dragon gift: a review on this tablet run by a “lucky” Snapdragon processor. It is not just a tablet by the way, it is The World’s first 7-inch Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet, also known as HUAWEI MEDIAPAD.

For those who are unfamiliar with the brand, HuaWei, officially Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment manufacturer. Founded by Ren Zhengfei in 1987, it is the largest networking and telecommunications equipment supplier in China and the second-largest mobile telecommunications infrastructure equipment supplier in the world. It currently caters to 45 of the world’s 50 largest telecom operators. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd is headquartedred in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China but has 20 R&D institutes around the world. The company is said to have over 110,00 employees with almost half dedicated to R&D work.

I first heard of the Huawei MediaPad when Engadget raved about this dashingly handsome device, calling it “downright luscious”. I was naturally curious to learn more about this China made product, after all it is not every day that you hear a respected tech savvy geek throwing girlish praises.

After a quick search on the internet, I discovered that this gizmo has more accolades hiding under its skin. According to reports and reviews, The Huawei MediaPad is not only the first tablet to date running Android 3.2 software, it is also graphically superior with its pixel density of 217 ppi, surpasing Motorola Xoom’s (erstwhile highest tablet pixel holder) 160 ppi and Ipad’s 132 ppi. Its screen resolution is 1280×800 (HD 720p capable).

Huawei Mediapad App UI

Huawei Mediapad Desktop UI

Screenshot of the HD 720p App UI (Click to view the full screenshot resolution)

While the specs may not be highly sophisticated and complex, it is still state-of-the-art quality and decent enough to boast around. Powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the tablet is built for some serious browsing experience with is 7”IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display and WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G, HSPA+ 14.4 Mbps internet connectivity.

Huawei Mediapad: About the tablet (Click to enlarge)

Huawei Mediapad S7-301u: Storage Overview (Click to enlarge)

And for those shutterbugs who just love to share their moments with others, the MediaPad has two built-in cameras, a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera and a 5 megapixel autofocus rear-facing camera that has HD video recording capabilities (720p). The quality of pictures taken using the front and rear cameras are not the impressive, but it’s good enough if you don’t have a digital camera or a DSLR with you. The default resolution is 2592×1944 for the rear camera and 1280×720 for the front camera, which is really awesome because it’s BIG!

The Photo Gallery

SAMPLE PHOTOS TAKEN USING HUAWEI MEDIAPAD’S FRONT & REAR CAMERA:

Huawei Mediapad rear camera sample photo

Another sample shot of Huawei Media's rear camera

Huawei Mediapad front camera sample photo

Now, if you are skeptical and comparing each detail with the pedestally-placed iPad or the equallyrevered Samsung Galaxy, then consider this fact: it is the cheapest android tablet on the market (by banchek) . As Huawei’s Chief Marketing Officer Victor Xu succintly puts it “With the Huawei MediaPad, we are demonstrating yet again that design, functinality, and performance is within anyone’s reach.” The Huawei MediaPad is respectable with its features relative to its price. “The MediaPad opens up new worlds of entertainment for consumers by removing the barriers to tablet ownership, increasing access to a truly high-quality mobile entertainment experience fully integrated with cloud-based internet content,” said Xu in its press release.

Just the right size

You can easily grasp it

Power, USB and HDMI slot

Earphone and Speakers

Volume Control and Power Button

While the iPad’s feature is touted to be up there, so is its price. This is definitely a hurdle to the wider market. HuaWei is definitely taking the noble road by cutting down the price of its tablet without compromising the overall performance of the gadget.

Huawei Mediapad and iPad 2 side by side

Huawei Medipad and iPad 2 compared

It's slightly thick compared to iPad 2

Weighing just 0.86 pounds, the Huawei MediaPad can store chunkie data with its 8GB internal storage and can be expanded up to 32GB via micro SD card. And if looks can be anymore deceiving, this slim and light tablet is also strong in terms of endurance.

Huawei Mediapad is fairly light and easy to hold

Its thickness is not that thin and not that thick, just perfect!

With its 4100mAh battery, the fun can last up to 6 to 7 hours. And as if HuaWei can’t be anymore generous, the MediaPad comes with pre-installed Apps like Facebook, Twitter, Let’s Golf, Document to go, and many more.

Huawei Mediapad does not support embedded capture and I have no plans in rooting it. Anyway, I can still take screen shots of my Android UI using Huawei Hi Suite desktop software that comes with the device. You can easily install the software by plugging in the Mediapad to your Windows desktop (I have tried this in my Mac, but I think there’s also a Huawei Hi Suite for Mac). After plugging it via USB, Hi Suite installation will prompt and you can install it in a breeze.

Huawei Hi Suite

After installing Hi Suite and connecting your device, Huawei Office will also be installed automatically in your device.

The Huawei Office

Another thing that is quite disappointing with the Huawei Mediapad is that it has an HDMI slot, but it doesn’t come with a free HDMI cable. Hehe. But that doesn’t really matter for a lot of people I guess.

CONCLUSION:
This review has made me realize that HuaWei’s Snapdragon MediaPad is indeed auspicious and powerful to those who own it because you get three of the most important factors of a tablet: design, functionality, and performance in a very reasonable price (SRP is 21,990 pesos).

For the latest updates on Huawei Mediapad and other Huawei products, you can follow Huawei PH on Facebook and Twitter.

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

DISCLAIMER: The Huawei Mediapad was given for free by Huawei to me last December 2011 and this post is sponsored by… Huawei! Thanks Huawei! Weeeeeeee!

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